Training Wheels About To Come Off

So here is the deal. Remember when you were a kid and the idea of learning how to ride a bike was just about one of the coolest things ever...well, the feeling of being in Beijing and making myself comfortable is something along those lines. Just like a child who is unsteady and wobbly when their training wheels first come off, I still feel a little vulnerable and jumpy in Beijing. I want so badly to kick those two silly little baby wheels away and ride on my own, but I know I need to watch myself or I could fall. And fall hard, if I am not mindful. But having said that, I think there is also a lot to be learned from how a little kid approaches riding a bike. For me, the way I allowed myself to glide along the road with ease without my loving parents at my side (or my flashy pink and purple training wheels- how I secretly miss thee!) was courage. It was the ability to put my inhibitions and fears on hold...almost to the point where you stop thinking. Sure, I might have run into a couple of trashcans and skid onto the grass but I got back up and brushed myself off and showed that bike whose boss! That is exactly what I plan to do here in Beijing.

Cool architecture of Beijing....the farthest building to the right is known as the "pants" building...can you tell why? :)

Last week I had some ups but also some downs. Of course I am bound to have those incontrollable thoughts of missing home, friends and my usual surroundings. Especially when my stay in Beijing extends a little more in both purpose and duration than a vacation would, but I think knowing this allows me to really get a more accurate depiction and feel for what life really is like. The real experience, if you will, is like ordering the black coffee at Starbucks sans all that fru fru mochachino whip dazzle that they add to make you think it is some drink worthy of $5. I say- nah, forget all that, give me the raw, uncut stuff! And, well, that is exactly what I got. Before I relay this story I want everyone to keep in mind that there are cultural differences and try to view this in the most objective way possible. I only mention this encounter because it came to me as quite a surprise, but after thinking it over (multiple times) I have come to the conclusion of it being a matter of nature beating out nurture.

Anyway, after a fun day of lunch out with friends and intense bargaining battles at the infamous Silk Street Market, I found myself delighted to snag a seat on the subway home. As I sat there zoning in and out, I accidently rubbed elbows with a cute little girl sitting on her mother's lap. Running into people is no new thing for Beijing (you are constantly subject to being one of many stars in the Beijing sky). Anyhow, all of the sudden the mother set the little girl down on her feet and out of no where the little girl started peeing. At first I was not sure whether or not it was really happening, but then as the woman sitting on my other side quickly picked her feet up to avoid the rushing stream of liquid, I too wizened up and followed suit. I instinctively looked around and noticed.... nothing! No one even batted an eyelash. I more than anything understand the dire need to use the restroom, but this was something new.

But in the end, I feel like you have to rationalize the situation as okay, this is China and what is considered normal here may not be in the U.S. and vice versa. Even simple things like ordering cold water in the U.S., which most people would most readily do especially in the full heat of a 95 plus degree summer, Chinese people prefer not to. They even find it somewhat odd to drink very cold water and instead insist on drinking warm water, which I am told is better for your health. The point is, things are different everywhere and I guess their overlooking of this matter falls into the category of accepting alternate ways of thinking. So I am doing my best to view things as objectively as I can. However, I will not extend this rationale to the subject of car honking; I find the honking almost intolerable because it seems so futile. But then again, I guess it relieves stress and makes the drivers have a voice? Or maybe people just love the sound of "tooting their own horn"!

Subway station close to my work.

But on to more serious business: my job. So I work on the 6th floor and in quiet smaller office with 5 other women and we each have our own cubicles. Everyday I arrive at work around 8:05- 8:15 (depending on the traffic) and work until 11:30 when a couple of my colleagues and I usually head out for some lunch. I very much enjoy the promptness with which the other girls execute on our departure for lunch. Being an early riser, I have found myself to be a person who prefers taking an earlier lunch. We usually walk about 5 minutes to the high school cafeteria behind our office and eat a simple but satisfactory meal of rice, some kind of vegetable and maybe meat or tofu (depending on the day). Although it is a little difficult for me to make conversation with the somewhat high noise level and my unpolished Mandarin skills, the girls are very sweet and friendly and it is nice to have some steady lunch companions.

View of my office from my cubicle.

Even though we have a 2 hour lunch, which is designed to let people have a rest if they want, I usually opt to get back to work after lunch so that I can leave earlier (don't worry my boss approved of this). So far I have been doing research on foreign publishing companies as well some translation work. Some days feel slower than others, but I finally feel like I am starting to settle into a routine- so woohoo for that! Yes, I admit I am one of those boring routine-a-holics. I like finding my groove, what can I say? My only major complaint so far has been the heat. The air-conditioning in my office has been like the invisible friend I had when I was 5 years old - - long gone...aka non-existent! But! Yes, there is a but... the good news is that today when I was leaving work someone came in to fix it, so fingers crossed that tomorrow it is blowing like the Santa Ana winds in there!

So as the days begin to disappear, I feel like I am steadily growing closer to throwing those dinky training wheels in the back of my suitcase. Watch out Beijing! I am so close to having the courage to conquer you and race away into the blur of your bright fluorescent lights.

Enjoying a saturday afternoon at Peiking University with a new friend and my "little brother" Jeff

Dinner in Tuanjiehu after work...Tapas in China- oh yes!